“I want every child to know there is a God who loves them.”

The Greatest Journey

The Greatest Journey Teacher Guide

The Greatest Journey Student Workbook

After receiving shoebox gifts, many children are invited back to participate in our discipleship program, The Greatest Journey. Through this 12-lesson course, which includes Bible stories and Scripture memorization, they learn how to follow Christ in their daily lives as they share Him with friends and family. More than 14.9 million children have enrolled in this program since 2009.

A Graduation Celebration

After completing The Greatest Journey, children attend a graduation celebration and receive a certificate.

Most importantly, they are given a Bible that includes the New Testament and selected Old Testament stories along with a dictionary of Biblical terms and a map of Bible lands. Complete with illustrations, it is often the first copy of God’s Word the child, or their family, will own.

Family and friends who attend the ceremony hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hearing the Good News and testimonies during their loved one’s graduation reinforces the changes they have seen in the students’ lives, and their families often come to faith in Christ.

A New Testament in the student's language

Graduation Certificate

Uganda: Children rejoice at their graduation from The Greatest Journey.

Believers Multiply

Since 2009, more than 6.9 million children have reported decisions for Christ while taking The Greatest Journey. These children as well as those who hear the Gospel at shoebox outreach events share their faith with friends and family—who in turn disciple others.

Pastor Waisea

Pastor Waisea Liwaiono hosted an Operation Christmas Child outreach in Vunika, a rural community in Fiji that had no church. He then invited the children to attend The Greatest Journey discipleship program. As the students gathered for Bible lessons, their parents grew curious and began attending too. The local witchdoctor became a believer and offered his property as a place for the new church to meet. Today 80 people attend regularly, and five additional churches have been started in surrounding villages!

Prayer

From the shoebox packers who pray for the boys and girls who will receive their gifts to the local teachers who pray for the children who attend The Greatest Journey discipleship classes, prayer is key to the work of Operation Christmas Child.

Honduras: A little girl prays to thank God for her shoebox gift. Prayer is an essential element of outreach events around the world.

Samaritan’s Purse is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity. All contributions designated for specific projects shall be applied
to those projects, and we may assess up to 10 percent to be used for administering the gift. Occasionally,
we receive more contributions for a given project than can be wisely applied to that project. When that happens,
we use these funds to meet a similar pressing need.

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The Greatest Journey Graduation Certificate

Children who complete all 12 lessons receive a certificate at graduation. This official memento of their accomplishment is a treasured keepsake for many.

New Testament in the Student's Language

In addition to receiving a certificate, The Greatest Journey graduates receive a New Testament in their own language. This may be the first copy of the Scriptures they or their family have ever owned.

The Greatest Journey Teachers Guide

This in-depth manual helps instructors apply Bible stories to their students’ lives to encourage the boys and girls to re-tell them to others. With the help of this resource, The Greatest Journey teachers are taught to be good storytellers who ask questions of children to keep them engaged. This method allows nonliterate cultures to participate and equips teachers to continue discipleship lessons with their students long after they complete the workbook.

The Greatest Journey Student Workbook

This colorful 12-lesson resource equips the student to follow along with the story, memorize verses, and do activities in class or as homework.

Ministry Partner Guide

A step-by-step suggested presentation of the Gospel appears in the Ministry Partner Guide along with a series of two-panel posters that illustrate the text. This guide fosters consistency in how the Good News is presented during Operation Christmas Child outreach events.